Allen Iverson vs. Yao Ming: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Yao Ming and Allen Iverson to determine who has the better numbers. Here you can compare their career totals, points per game, games of 40+ points, 50+, etc. and their year-by-year scoring averages side by side, both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.

Allen Iverson is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and also has one of the highest career averages in league history, and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Yao Ming.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Allen Iverson has better scoring stats than Yao Ming in averages and totals, both in the regular season and Playoffs. However, we won't stop there and we'll go into detail to analyze what these statistics are made up of, from how many games they had in each threshold (30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc.) to their season-by-season scoring averages.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 14 NBA regular seasons played, Allen Iverson averages 7.7 points more than Yao Ming in his 8 seasons (26.7 points against 19.0), and he also scored a total of 15,121 points more (24,368 vs. 9,247).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Allen Iverson	26.7	+7.7	14
Yao Ming	19.0		8

Total Points			Seasons
Allen Iverson	24,368	+15,121	14
Yao Ming	9,247		8

Scoring Titles
Allen Iverson	4	+4
Yao Ming	0

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Scoring Leader

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Allen Iverson	23.5	+10.0	1997	76
Yao Ming	13.5		2003	82

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Allen Iverson	22.0	+4.5	1998	80
Yao Ming	17.5		2004	82

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Allen Iverson	26.8	+8.5	1999	48
Yao Ming	18.3		2005	80

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Allen Iverson	28.4	+6.1	2000	70
Yao Ming	22.3		2006	57

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Allen Iverson	31.1	+6.1	2001	71
Yao Ming	25.0		2007	48

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Allen Iverson	31.4	+9.4	2002	60
Yao Ming	22.0		2008	55

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Allen Iverson	27.6	+7.9	2003	82
Yao Ming	19.7		2009	77

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Allen Iverson	26.4	+16.2	2004	48
Yao Ming	10.2		2011	5

Allen Iverson's additional seasons:

* Allen Iverson played 8 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 9 to 16, from 2005 to 2010—he averaged 24.2 points in a total of 493 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 33 ppg and his lowest 13.8. In those 8 extra years over Yao Ming, Allen Iverson won 1 scoring title.